Yule Ball
by Talamahina
Summary: Remus Lupin's 4th year at Hogwarts..chapter 1 of a (maybe?) continuing series. Everything seems to be going well for Remus: he has a beautiful, kind girlfriend, a group of great friends, everything he's ever wanted- and then somehow his little "secret" ge


Remus Lupin walked up the snowy path to Hogwarts slightly bent over against the howling winter wind.   
He had to try and hurry, because he'd stayed a little later than his classmates after the Care of Magical   
Creatures lesson to find out what he had missed while he was absent. Now he was supposed to be at   
Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he was already late. Which wasn't good, considering the fact that he'd   
already been tardy four times that day, and it was only 11 O'clock.  
  
"Hey, Remus!" shouted a girl's voice, from somewhere up ahead. Startled out of his thoughts, he glanced   
up.  
  
"What-"  
  
A snowball flew threw the air and stopped abruptly in front of his nose. A small silver tab engraved with   
the words "Pull Me!" stuck out from its side. Remus grinned and pulled at the tab, drawing a small strip of   
paper out as it went.   
  
Hey, wolf-boy, it read, wanna go to the Yule Ball with me? –Mishele  
  
Remus grinned. He took a quill that still had a little bit of ink left on it out of his book bag and scribbled   
"Sure" onto the reverse side of the parchment strip, then threw the snowball back off into the distance. He   
didn't bother with aiming it, because knowing Mishele; it was probably one of her own little creations and   
she'd most likely charmed it into finding its own way back. Sure enough, a beaming Mishele appeared   
from behind a snowbank and dashed up to him, her short, bouncy blonde hair a mess.   
  
"Did you like the snowball?" she asked brightly. "I made it last night."  
  
"It was very creative," he assured her.  
  
Mishele glanced at the silver watch on her wrist and scowled. "Ack! We're late for Defense Against the   
Dark Arts." She sighed. "I'm gonna have a detention now...that's my third time this week."  
  
"It's my fourth time today," said Remus. "And it's not even lunchtime yet. I think that may be a record."   
  
"At least you have an excuse for being late. The teachers'll excuse you because last night was the full   
moon." Mishele glanced at Remus's face more closely. "You can tell, too. You've got gigantic dark circles   
under your eyes." There was a sympathetic tone to her voice; her dark green eyes were full of compassion.  
  
Remus fought back a shudder. He'd had a particularly rough transformation last night. He'd nearly broken   
through one of the windows in the Shrieking Shack. It pained him to think of what might have happened if   
he had been successful. Soon, he thought reassuringly to himself, soon it'll be better…Sirius, James, and   
Peter are almost done with the Animagi spells…it's just a little longer… Remus pulled self-conciously at   
the slightly too-short sleeves of his robes, trying to hide the deep scratches and bruises he'd given himself   
in wolf form last night. "You look tired, too," he told Mishele quickly, taking in her sleepy expression. "Up   
late studying for the Arithmancy exam?"  
  
Mishele froze. "We have an Arithmancy test today?"  
  
Remus burst out laughing. "I can't believe you, Mishele. You are positvely amazing."  
  
"And why do you say that?" she demanded with mock indignation.  
  
"Because you're so smart…I mean, look at that snowball you made! And yet you put absolutely no effort   
into your schoolwork whatsoever. And you're unbelievably disorganized."  
  
"You should talk, wolf-boy. I've seen your backpack. It's disgusting."  
  
"That's called messy, not disorganized."   
  
They were almost at the castle doors now. Mishele took one more glance at her watch. "Hmm, maybe we   
won't be too late after all."  
  
The huge double-doors swung open and they stepped into the hallway. Dashing up a few sets of stairs,   
down a few corridors, and through a final doorway, the two reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts   
classroom, where the rest of the students were just settling into their desks. Remus & Mishele slid into seats   
towards the back of the room, near James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, Remus's best friends   
and partners-in-crime, and Lily Evans, Mishele's own best girl friend. The Professor glanced disprovingly   
at the pair but began the lesson anyway. Mishele breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God…I won't have   
detention after all…"  
  
After class the students went down to the Great Hall for lunch. Mishele wanted to run back to her dorm and   
grab the Arithmancy textbook for some last minute studying, and Lily went with her. As they disappeared   
up the stairs, giggling, Sirius turned to Remus.  
  
"I take it you asked her to the ball?" he said curiously.  
  
"Actually," said Remus, "she asked me."  
  
Sirius laughed. "Honestly, Moony, old pal," he said in mild exasperation, "when are you going to learn?"  
  
James interrupted before Sirius could get in some more of his trademark sarcasm and merciless teasing.   
"What did she do?" he asked. "Did she just…come up to you?" He sighed. "I wish Lily would do that   
sometime…"  
  
Sirius had just opened his mouth to make an undoubtedly rude comment when Remus answered. "No, she   
threw a snowball at me."  
  
Peter laughed. "A snowball?"  
  
"One of her latest creations. It had a little pull tab that drew the message out…"  
  
Sirius grinned. "I like that girl."  
  
"Yeah, well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm afraid she's Moony's now," said James.  
  
"I honestly don't know why; he certainly doesn't look very handsome this morning, now does he? Look at   
those bags under his eyes, and the hair, now, really, Remus, you ought to comb it once in a while," laughed   
Sirius. Had the comments come from anyone else, Remus would have probably been quite aggravated, but   
such things had to be expected from Sirius Black.  
  
As they approached the Great Hall, Peter changed the subject. "Er…Remus…we've got that Defense   
Against the Dark Arts exam coming up next week, I wanted to talk to you and see if you couldn't help me   
study for it…"  
  
"Not a problem," he answered. DatDA had always been his favorite subject.  
  
They sat down at a vacant end of the Gryffindor table where lunch was about to be served. Out of the   
corner of his eye, Remus could see Mishele and Lily bounding down the stairs from the tower. They were   
STILL giggling. He shook his head with a smile. Mishele always seemed to be so happy, so full of life. She   
had transferred to Hogwarts from a school in the United States two years ago, and had captivated Remus's   
heart ever since. They had been "dating" once and a while for almost a year now, but it wasn't exactly what   
you would call serious. She, like his four closest friends, was one of a very small number of people who   
accepted him despite what he was.  
  
He hated to think about what life had been like before he'd come to Hogwarts. He'd been shunned by other   
wizard children since he was very small; his family had tried very hard to keep their son's condition a   
secret, but it didn't last for very long. His worst memory was not of his first transformation, but instead, it   
was the one time he'd dared to tell a new friend about his "secret".  
  
He had been 10 years old. The new friend was the son of some old friends of his parents. Remus had   
thought that, for the first time, he'd found a real, true friend; someone he could trust unconditionally. He'd   
been horribly wrong. The other boy had treated him like a monster once he found out; something vile and   
below humanity. The experience had only reinforced what Remus had thought of himself all along. He   
wasn't human; he wasn't worthy of human comforts. He was a monster indeed.  
  
And then…then it all changed. Then Remus Lupin came to Hogwarts, and a whole new world opened up to   
him.  
  
Author Note: That's as far as I've gotten; I'm not sure if it's worth finishing.(It's my first-ever fic, you see.)   
Let me know what you think!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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